"Standby. House to half. House out." The audience settles as the lights dim, the curtain opens and the play begins.
In the arts world, the faces of actors and actresses who sweep across the stage are easily recalled, but often we know little about those who work behind the scenes.
Focusing the spotlight behind the curtain, a face can be added to the voice of the stage manager whose job ensures that a play runs smoothly.
"Basically I run the show," said Nora Bryan '98, who has stage managed over 10 productions since her Freshman Spring.
According to Bryan, the role of the stage manager is a complicated one, encompassing all the "processes that go on in a play." A stage manager is a liaison for the different groups that interact in a play, fostering the relationship between actor and director, director and technician, costume manager and actor.
Fitting together the independent parts of the play like pieces of a puzzle carries a pretty high stress level "until you know what you're doing," Bryan said. The difficulty is, Bryan said, "How does one manage artists without crushing the art?"
Work behind the stage often goes unnoticed. "Non-recognition comes with the territory. You know you're not going to get fame and fortune," stated Bryan.
"You feel good when people ask you to do their show. That's the reward."
Bryan stated that an undertaking like stage management is not a job for everyone. "I love it, but not everyone does," Bryan said.
"Everyone has their niche in drama," she said.
Bryan has stage managed every term since the spring term of her freshman year. Over her four years at the College, Bryan, a Religion and Theater double major, has been involved in about 10 campus productions, and even became involved in theater during her Religion Foreign Studies Program in Edinborough, Scotland.
Though she was involved in theater in high school as an actress, "I was a terrible actor," Bryan said with a grin.
Her first introduction to stage management occurred during her first year at the College, when she worked on a lighting design project. "Some director needed a stage manager, so I said sure, 'I can do that,'" Bryan commented, not realizing what she was getting herself into.
The next play she was involved in was the main stage production of Romeo and Juliet, a "huge" production, according to Bryan. She found herself the head stage manager, a responsibility she found overwhelming at first. "Basically I had no idea what I was doing," she admitted. "It was trial by fire. I didn't know what to do until I had already done it wrong."
After that harrowing experience, Bryan came to a conclusion. "No one should have to go through that alone," she insisted. The result was a book -- a guide to stage management at Dartmouth, now used for all major College productions.
According to Bryan, most people do not come to the College knowing a lot about the art of stage management. The guide she created is intended to offer assistance to those who, like herself, entered stage managing inexperienced.
Bryan hoped that by outlining general procedures, her book would give new stage managers a better idea of how to do their job, which not only makes the role of stage manager more manageable, but helps the directors and the play itself run more smoothly.
Though she modestly states that her guide "doesn't have all the answers," Bryan urges, "It's a start. It gives them something to go on."
As involved as she is in theater, she did not come to college intending to be involved in the field of the arts. "I was going to be a doctor," she commented. Although the switch from medicine to theater seems dramatic, "It happens," Bryan said.
"All my friends told me I would get sucked in but I said, 'No, not me,'" said Bryan. By then, however, she already strayed from her original medicine course and decided to major in Religion. "Then I became known as a religion major who did theater."
Not long afterward, "It was a religion major and a theater minor." By her junior year she had completely crossed over. "I ended up declaring a double major," she confirmed, smiling.
Declaring a second major at such a late time but stress on her schedule, at one point forcing her to take three drama courses in one term.
As to whether she plans to pursue stage management as a career, Bryan was indecisive. "I've thought about it but ..." her voice trailed off.
Right now she has decided to look into business. Administration in the arts is a possible venue as a long term career, "but I want to get into general business first and think about focusing later," Bryan said. "I don't want to get to far from the arts."
